Yeah, I didn't think it sounded right. I'll keep looking for the plastic wood.

If using papier mache, how do you do the trapdoor at the back of the head? Is it the same way as doing it with other materials?

As long as the papier mache is thick & strong, then I have found the normal methods work well and can treat it similary to other materials such as urethane/ wood etc

Cool - that sounds good then. I was thinking of doing different layers; do the first couple with paper/glue, and then a layer of gauze/glue, then back to paper/glue, then gauze, etc. and do about 8 layers for strength.

Adding moving eyebrows though... *sigh* is another tricky bit to add in.

Ah so much to learn, so little time! :P

The moveing eyebrows can be a "tetter totter" (sp?).  Ok that is not completely true but should give you an idea. The ones I have seen the most have a pivot point at the outside or inside edge and "swivel" up from there.  I think there is a post here on the forum with this example.

Another design I have seen in the past would be two slots in the head and the brow moves up and down in that slot.

The head can be made of paper mache' and you can build it just like you would one of your regular puppets really. That is how this guy is made: http://wildjokerdesign.com/puppetsandsuch/gallery/monster.html  I did cover the head and body in spray on Tool Dip.

Thanks Shawn. I think I will do papier mache, since it's not that different from making my bunraku head - just add in the eyebrows and a moving mouth. Good thing is it can be a half-bodied puppet, so I can focus just on getting the head right, and the costume is fairly simple to add.

Still, I've been looking at the latex stuff, and I'm almost tempted to give that a shot... But I have to give them a quote tomorrow, so I need to decide soon (it's almost midnight here)

From the PM video you sent me Na, it seems that you client is looking for a flexible cariacature which I feel you should mould in latex to give that comedy approach.

Thanks - I replied to your PM

Ok, new question - as this is a caricature, does anyone have some good tips on making portraits of people in puppet form?

I'm hunting for info on how to do the drawings, but obviously there's a difference between caricature drawing and caricature in 3D.

Pick part of the persons face that stands out the most and make sure you define the features which makes that person unique. The skin tone isnt that important, but does help. Getting the shape of the head (round, oval etc) I think is quite important but also the eyes really make a person what they look like.

Cheers,
Dan

Great tips! I'm sitting here trying to do a sketch of the profile, and there's some definite features that I can heighten. The eyes are also going to be tricky; but important.